The Indus plains were once covered with thick forests and wildlife. Elephants, rhinoceros, wild sheep and leopards roamed the forests. It was no wonder, then, that this area was the favourite hunting ground of the Mughal emperors. All that is left of their rule are crumbling monuments and hunting lodges that are strewn all over the plains. The years have also changed the face of this land as the population increased and forests gave way to farmlands. Then, in the 19th century, British colonialists introduced an extensive irrigation canal system to help the local farmers. The canals benefited the farmers but sounded the death knell to the scrub forests.

Today these forests are reduced to small pockets of areas in the Salt Range like the Jhangar Valley. Jhangar lies to the south east of Islamabad in the Chakwal district of Punjab. The people of this region depend on small-sized farms (1-2 acres) to grow local rain-fed varieties of wheat, maize and barley (which don’t need pesticides) for household and community use. Most of their real income comes from service in the Pakistan Armed Forces; almost every household in the area has at least one member serving in the army. The Jhangar forest is spread over 3,053 hectares and includes forty different species of trees, shrubs and herbs, thirty-one species of birds, sixteen mammals and a large number of reptiles and insects. The indigenous Punjab Urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis), the common leopard and the peafowl, which are all endangered species, are also found in this region.

Besides increased agricultural activity, the other factor that changed Jhangar was the discovery of minerals and ores in the region. This led to extensive blasting and coal mining, with no regard to the destruction of indigenous vegetation. These coal mines, numbering more than a hundred, are privately owned, but the land is leased from the government’s Forest Department or from the local community. They are a source of considerable revenue for both the government and the local community, so it is difficult to control their activities. Also, a nearby cement factory, Gharibwal Cement, collects raw material (gypsum, clay, limestone) from Jhangar Valley. The recently privatised cement factory buys land from the area and destroys the forests by blasting entire hillsides to extract raw materials. The dust particles released by the factory settle on the leaves of the plants in the area, blocking their transpiration process. Although the factory employs local villagers and is hence a source of income in the valley, it has disturbed the habitat of the wildlife and eroded the fertile land.

A rapidly increasing population dependent on fuel wood has been a further cause of extensive logging, while unchecked grazing by domestic livestock belonging to the roving nomads and the villagers themselves has resulted in the overuse of the forests. In addition, poaching has also reduced the region’s wildlife. The various nomadic clans, or Bakarwal, who would arrive in the valley from across the province or from Azad Kashmir on a seasonal basis, would settle in the valley for five to six months at a stretch. They would pay the locals for access to their forests. The nomads would then set up their camps and use the wood from the trees in their quest for fuel. They would also graze their goats, sheep and cows in the area, causing damage to the vegetation.

The Jhangar scrub forest would have been severely damaged if the WWF Pakistan hadn’t stepped in. WWF is one of the world’s largest independent environmental conservation organisations. It has focused on field conservation projects to protect Pakistan’s wildlife and natural habitat and on education and awareness raising programmes targeting the country’s youth. In 1992-93, WWF surveyed the vanishing ecological resources of Pakistan, one of which was the Jhangar scrub forest. This particular scrub forest gained special significance when the organisation discovered its wide variety of trees and animals. The area was also discovered to be ecologically important because of the Punjab Urial, an internationally recognised endangered mountain sheep endemic to the Salt Range. With the disappearing scrub forests and uncontrolled hunting, the Urial faced every danger of being wiped off the face of the earth. There are today an estimated 25-30 Punjab Urial living in Jhangar Valley.

During their research, WWF also discovered that Jhangar occupies a unique position. The government owns most of the protected forests in Pakistan, but 60% of the Jhangar forest is Shamilaat or owned by the community. This meant that instead of government sponsored action to save the valley from destruction, the Jhangar community itself needed to act to protect their forests. Community members were first gathered to visualise the impact of indiscriminate woodcutting on their way of life. WWF contacted influential local teachers and village elders and explained how mining, over-grazing and cutting was exhausting their soil. The realisation that the land may not be able to support their future generations geared the villagers into action.

To help mobilise the communities for joint action, village organisations were formed that went on to make a community based organisation called the Jhangar Valley Conservation and Development Committee (JVCDC). A field office to house the Committee was set up in January 1998 in the village of Basharat, the largest village in the area. There are a total of 16 villages in Jhangar and out of these, 13 have formed village organisations. Twenty representatives from these villages serve as voluntary members of the Committee (including one female member, which is a pioneering achievement of the community since women don’t participate in decision making activities in this tradition-bound area). These are mostly activists of the area – school-teachers, social workers and community leaders. The Vice-President of the Committee is Fazal Rehman, the head-master of the local government boy’s high school. He has been very active from the beginning in motivating his community and the youth of the area. He also plays the role of mediator in any disputes that erupt in Jhangar.

The Committee’s strength lies in the fact that it takes local decisions and is able to implement them. For instance, in 1999 the local community decided to impose a ban on nomads. The Committee ensured that the nomads would be stopped at the entrance to the valley. They are no longer allowed into Jhangar since their grazing pressure is too much for the eco-system. The Committee is also motivating the district administration to put pressure on Gharibwal Cement Factory to restrict its area of activities. It has also motivated the people to lobby against the government selling reserve forest area to the factory.

WWF Pakistan also has its own staff working in the area. Aamir Saeed Khan is the Conservation Officer who has been working in the region since 1996. He explains: “WWF plays the role of the facilitator, providing the expertise while the locals provide the manpower.” WWF, whose field office is located in Choa Saidan Shah, the district headquarters, organises nature clubs and supports other environmental educational activities like celebrating ‘Earth Day’. It also provides training and capacity building activities to the local community, helping to raise awareness about the environment in the area.

When the Committee needed financial assistance, the WWF contacted the UNDP’s GEF/SGP and with its funding, work was started to save the valley and rehabilitate the forest. Soon the government’s Forest Department developed an interest in the area and helped by providing seeds and saplings for the replanting of fast-growing trees like Acacia, Ailanthus, Ipleiple and Sheesham. WWF helped to raise several nurseries for community use. Since the government’s Forest Department owned 40% of the Jhangar forest, they had a real stake in protecting the forest’s future.

But the tree plantation was not enough to save the valley. As an alternative means of livelihood, the villagers started growing high yield varieties of wheat and fodder for their animals. The seeds were developed by the Agriculture Department, Punjab, and introduced to Jhangar by WWF in 1995. The use of these varieties eased the pressure from the forest where some pockets were left untouched to grow and rejuvenate.

Work is currently underway to spread the use of fuel-efficient stoves in the area to cut down the pressure on the forest. These stoves failed to make an impact initially, but were reintroduced after considerable redesigning of the stove. The fuel-efficient stoves are now helping to reduce the pressure on the forest, and WWF provides training for the implementation and use of the new technology to the local women. The farmers are also thinking of ways of using their forest without damaging it, like extracting and selling wild honey.

As the Jhangar project grew, it attracted an unconventional partner, the Power Company AES. Since industrial production releases damaging carbon emission into the atmosphere, AES’s mandate requires investment in ‘carbon sink’ forestation activities like the Jhangar project. The AES provided funding to plant around 10,000 trees in Jhangar from 1998-99. Another partner in the project is a Japanese environmental NGO, the KNCF (Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund), which is funding the latest phase of the Jhangar project. Around 11,000 plants have been added through this grant which is for 1999-2000 and this funding will be available till June 2001.

Jhangar is a good example for the government and the nation of how effective local action can save the land. The community has planted more than 20,000 trees since 1994 and developed locally owned nurseries. In addition, 609 fruit trees have also been planted for income generation purposes. In the past two years, the community has successfully controlled the cutting of trees in the forest. The Committee monitors all these activities and fines local villagers for disobeying the ban on cutting in the protected areas. The organisation also helps identify interested groups who are willing to participate in protecting their land. The Committee initiates dialogue with these groups and after several meetings and consultations an agreement is formulated. “The locals then sign this formal agreement and declare a portion of their land as a protected area”, explains Dr. Ejaz Ahmed, the Deputy Director General of WWF Pakistan who is in charge of the Jhangar Valley project. “Although this is not a legal and binding document, the locals follow it because they have given their word. Jhangar is still a traditional area and people tend to keep their promises”.

Today, 875.25 hectares (approximately 48%) of Jhangar’s Shamilaat land is a protected area where the trees and animals are safe from harm. The people of Jhangar Valley have now set a precedent in the country by declaring their own protected areas. Though it will take several years for the ecological and economic benefits of the tree plantation to become visible, for now the community is willing to keep on working for the long term benefits. Under the mentoring role of the WWF and help from GEF, the Jhangar community is planning to grow into a full fledged community-based organisation with a vision to save their ancestral lands for their future generations.

– Research and writing by Faiza Hasan and Rina Saeed Khan